Year in Review, 2005

I stole this thing from Elizabeth Bear's blog. Let's see how I've done...

Novel words written: 70,000

Well, I didn't truly start writing until I came home from college in May so this is only half a year's review in actuality.

The Periwinkle Prince draft: 53,045

The Spellcrafters draft: 10,150

Sylva draft: 3,500

Admirably Admirable Advice draft: 2,000

Best day: about 4,000 words during NaNo on The Periwinkle Prince. I believe it was the scene where Tandyn spots Amelia at the slave market and they make a run for it; that was fun to write.

Worst day: 100

Novels completed: None yet

Novels published: None yet

Novel and novel-length manuscript submissions: 0

Novels sold: 0

Novels rejected: 0 (yay no rejections here!)

Other responses: None

Short story words written: 58,000

"The Dragon-elves" - 10,000
"Escape" - 10,000
"Some Things Just Don't Sell" - 4,000
"Pixie Wine" - 3,500
"When It Burns, It Burns Like a Star" - 4,000
"The Drinking of Ales" - 3,500
"Chance on Catella" - 3,000
"The Troll Tracks" - 5,000
"Bereavement" - 7,000 (incomplete)
"Helen Goes Shopping" - 3,000
"The Dead Forest" - 5,000

Notes, outline, and synopsis words written: Yeah, I have no idea. I have papers all over the place.

Blog words written: You got me...maybe 15,000?

Non fiction articles for publication: I've written over 15 book reviews for FantasyBookSpot and about 5 things for Tangent Online. I also wrote an appreciation for SCI FICTION.

Total new words written: A bajillion.

New stories written: All of them.

Existing stories revised: All of them.

Short story submissions sent: 26

Responses received: 19

Acceptances: 0

Rejections: 19

Other responses: I have gotten several nice personal comments from editors which hopefully means I'm getting closer to becoming published.

Awaiting response: 7

Short stories published: 0

Best thing about this year's publications: 0

Poems written: 2

Poems submitted: 2

Major award nominations: 0

Minor award nominations: 0

Awards won: 0

Novel editing hours: None yet, but next year I'm going to focus on The Periwinkle Prince a bit.

Goals for 2006: Finish The Periwinkle Prince, finish Sylva, sell a short story, and have a lot more statistics for the Year in Review 2006.

That is all for now.

Tangent review

My review for The Sword Review, #9, December 2005 is now up on Tangent Online. Take a look and please feel free to give me some feedback if you think my opinions are stinky!

New review is up!

Check out my review of Lawrence Watt-Evans' Dragon Venom here.

Christmas books!

I got these two for Christmas:



Plus lots of nice gift cards to Barnes & Noble. Looks like I won't really need to buy books well into mid-February with all that I have to read. Holiday has been great so far. But I ate way too much food...

Early X-mas gift!

Tobias S. Buckell is sending me an ARC of his debut book, Crystal Rain. The final copy won't be out until February so I'm quite excited to read it. There's been a lot of talk going around the Interwebs about him and his debut.

Here's a blurb of what the story's about to tide you over:

In this much-anticipated debut novel, the only hope for a planet's delivery from the fearsome Azteca lies in a mythical artifact, the "Ma Wi Jung," said to be hidden somewhere in the frozen north.

Publication death

Just got word that I'm no longer reviewing Holly Messinger's End of the Line because, unfortunately, Eggplant Productions has gone under. Shame, as it seems like an interesting story published by a, what I thought to be, moving-forward publisher. Oh well...

In other good news, I'll be reviewing Shimmer, Amazing Journeys, and The Sword Review! Man is that a lot to read, but that matters not. For I live to read!

And now, a confession. I've hitched on to the band wagon about three years late and am madly in love with China Mieville's work. So far The Scar has been the most brilliant piece of literature I have ever read in my entire life. Now that may seem like a bold statement, when in actuality, this is a bold statement:

So far The Scar has been the most brilliant piece of literature I have ever read in my entire life.

As soon as I get some holiday cash, I'm going out and buying the rest of his books. Why did it take me so long to read him? Huh? I have no idea. I must have been in a hole in the ground or underneath a pile of rubble.

Writing news: 4-day rejection from Shimmer on "When It Burns, It Burns Like a Star". I've decided to put the story up on Critters to see what help they can offer me. I believe it to have potential somewhere, sometime.

Free stuff rules!

Now that I've gotten a bit farther into my side career of reviewing books and short fiction, I've acquired a lot more materials...and at no cost! Sure, I'm not in it to get free books, but man, it sure is great at times.

Brett Renwick is sending me his African-American science-fiction novel Wired for Chaos all the way from the UK:



Seems like an interesting read from the synopsis.

For Tangent, Eugie has asked me to review End of the Line by Holly Messinger. It's a western fantasy novella and I'm quite eager to read it. Sounds very different than anything I've ever read.

And for FantasyBookSpot, Damon had been kind enough to send me two books to review: The Eternity Artifact by L.E. Modisett and Giants of the Frost by Kim Wilkins.

My stack of "to-be-read" pile is growing taller every day. But at least I don't have to worry about what book to buy next. I've got enough to read until the middle of January for sure.

Major update like woah!

Well, with a new move to northern New Jersey I've been quite busy these last two weeks. But I'm beginning to get settled and hopefully soon I'll have my Internet connection set up in my studio.

Anyways, here are some things I've done recently.

Check out my book review for Alan Dean Foster's The Mocking Program over here.

Check out my book review for Stephen King's Firestarter over here.

My light fantasy story, The Drinking of Ales, went up on Critters about a week ago. I received about 15 well-done critiques of the story. Overall it was liked, but many said it had no conflict. Upon going back and reading the story, they were right. But now I have lots of suggestions for the rewrite which will hopefully make things go smoother.

Also, received a rejection for both The Drinking of Ales and Dragon Speech. The first one I expected after all the Critters comments and the second one I had forgotten I even submitted. No loss there as it was only a flash piece.

And at the moment I'm working on my novel The Spellcrafters. Outline is almost done and then the real writing can begin!

That is all for now, but stay tuned for further updates.

New review up!

Check out my review of The Sword Review, Issue 8 over at Tangent Online.

And then check out The Sword Review's website. Plenty of archived stories to read and enjoy!